Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) is an Emirati

free-trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

in Ras Al Khaimah in

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. In January 2020, Entrepreneur reported the free zone to have 14,000 companies across 50 industries.

History

It was introduced in 2017 and is one of the 37 free zones across the United Arab Emirates that are overseen by the

Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) is a United Arab Emirates investment authority in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. It issues licenses to operate within RAKIA owned special economic zones, provides business facilities and warehouses and pr ...

. During

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, RAKEZ moved towards digitisation and was reported to have 20% growth in 2020. The Free zone also launched a scheme to provide 12 years visa for investors purchasing an apartment in the zone in partnership with real estate developers Al Hamra. RAKEZ allows a one hundred percent foreign ownership.

References

Free-trade zones of the United Arab Emirates {{UnitedArabEmirates-geo-stub